There are many types of child resistant closure systems described in the art. While many child resistant caps effectively provide protection against the danger of small children being able to remove potentially harmful contents, e.g. pills, from vials or other containers, they also provide a problem for a considerable portion of the adult population that require medication but lack sufficient manual dexterity or strength to remove the child resistant cap. This is of a particular concern to the elderly population or people suffering from arthritis and other disabling diseases.
Continuous threaded, torque actuated child resistant caps are a popular type of child resistant closures. These caps involve the use of two parts, one part rests above the other part in an axial configuration and requires both a rotational and downward action to engage for removal. These caps are used in literally thousands of various applications and packaging configurations due to the universally understood push and turn structures and ease of use and adaptation in a wide variety of automated filing lines and processes. Most of these prior art torque actuated child resistant closures are continuously in a child resistant mode and, therefore, can pose a problem to the segment of the population needing the pharmaceuticals contained therein, but lacking the manual dexterity or strength to open the axially, torque actuated closures.
This particular problem has been addressed by the development of closure systems having both a child resistant mode and a non-child resistant mode such that, in the non-child resistant mode, the closures are more easily opened by adults. However, many such caps have a complex, multipart structure making the caps expensive and/or difficult to convert between the child resistant and non-child resistant configurations. One example of such a closure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,934, (the '934 patent). The '934 patent proposes a container closure that is selectively manipulatable between a configuration which resists opening by children and a configuration which may be easily opened without special manipulation of the closure. Specifically, the closure is manipulated into its non-child resistant mode by “pressing down” on the central portion of the top surface of the closure.
Although this type of closure provides an advance in the art of protection against the danger of small children being able to remove it from vials or other containers, the cap is made with two separately manufactured pieces that must be assembled. These aspects of the cap of the '934 patent, as well as other caps sharing these aspects, increases both the manufacturing cost and assembly time for the caps. Further, these caps cannot be sealed with tamper resistant liners in an induction sealing process as the two-piece cap includes an inner component that protrudes into the opening of the container and would break the seal.
Additionally, many caps that are convertible between a child resistant mode and non-child resistant mode have lacked the capability to properly include a warning to the consumer once this closure has been converted to its non-child resistant configuration. This warning, or message, is normally required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to alert users that the closure has been converted into the non-child resistant configuration.
In light of the foregoing, what is needed in the art is a reversible one piece child resistant closure and one piece child resistant closure and container system that is efficient to manufacture and use. The closure and container system preferably should provide a warning to the user when the closure system is in a non-child resistant mode and is operable to be used in conjunction with an induction sealing system.